


Message not Sent

by whatinthehellisagoodusername



Series: Letters returned [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Character(s), Minor Violence, Missing Persons, and shiro has multiple kids, they have a daughter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-05-18 03:58:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14845268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatinthehellisagoodusername/pseuds/whatinthehellisagoodusername
Summary: After being married for nearly 10 years, Keith isn't surprised when he wakes up to find his husband gone. It's happened before. He is surprised though when he doesn't come home.~It didn’t even take a minute for the message to ding back, with a small add-on.8.49PM, 3/6/2121:MESSAGE NOT SENT~





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So this is set in the Letter Returned to Sender world. People seem to like that, so I decided to continue it on, starting with chapter one. 
> 
> A lot has happened since I last wrote. Sorry if it's rusty. 
> 
> Feel free to ask me anything about this world, or let me know if you want more!

Keith stood staring out the window, reminiscing on the day. He'd woken his daughter up at 7 to get her ready for school. His bed was empty, meaning Matt either never came home or left some time in the early morning. He never knew what his husband would get up to in the days where he'd fall off the radar. He had his theories of course, but he never knew exactly what he did. It happened about two or three times a year. Matt never came home injured, and never talked about what he was doing, so Keith never brought it up. The day had passed as it normally had. Leila went to school and Keith went to work. 

At 2pm he attempted to call his husband, to see if he was going to pick Leila up like usual, or if Keith had to do it. The call rang three times before going to voicemail, which meant Matt had likely seen the call and hung up on him. It mad Keith a little mad, but since it only happened about two times a year, he decided not to complain and set about cleaning up his workshop.  
With Leila and groceries in tow, he stormed home, having spent an hour stewing on it and realising he WAS pissed off at his husband. On days like this, Matt was usually home by 5pm, so Keith started on dinner, waiting for him to arrive home. 

When it was 8pm, and Leila was in bed, Keith started to worry. Matt never stayed out past Leilas bedtime of 7.30pm, as he always wanted to tuck her in and read her a story. They’d gone through a lot trying to get Leila and Matt was always intent on making the most of it. Trying to ring his husband again, he got sent immediately to voicemail. Matt’s phone must have died. It worried Keith, his husband being out without a cell phone. Anything could happen to an openly gay and Jewish man in a smaller city like this. While everyone knew how nice and helpful Matt was, there were some bad people around the city outskirts that would thrive off attacking someone like him. White supremacists had already put Keith in hospital once. He couldn’t stand thinking the same would happen to his loving and gentle husband. 

Keith knew that the police wouldn’t be too willing to send out a search party at this time, but he decided to call them, just to alert them about the fact that Matt had been missing since some unknown time in the morning. They asked all the usual questions and said they’d file a report. With that, he called his brother. 

Takashi lived about twenty minutes away from Keith and Matt. It was great, because he could see his nieces and nephews whenever he wanted and Leila could grow up with her cousins. Keith enjoyed the fact that Leila got what he never had, and he hoped to one day give that to another child. But that’d be hard without his husband.

Takashi picked up on the second ring. Well it was technically Takashi Junior, his youngest son. Takashi Senior had no say in the matter. His wife picked it before she died and Kashi was too kind and too heartbroken to say no to his wife’s dying wish. 

Keith was always happy to talk to his nephew, but now really was not the time for Jr’s antics. 

“Hello, dis is Kashi junior how can I help you?” Junior always answered the phone like that. He was a 4, two years younger than Leila, and Takashi was teaching him about being polite on the phone.  
“Hey Kid, it’s uncle Keith. Can I speak to your dad? It’s really important.”

“Uncle Keef! Hi! Guess what?? Lulu’s teef fell out!” Junior’s sister, Allura, or Lulu, was getting her adult teeth, and Junior was jealous. All he could talk about was teeth.

“Bud, that is great but I REALLY need to speak to your dad. Right now. Can you find him for me please?”

“Ok Uncle, jus for you. BABA? PHONE! UNCLE KEEF WANTS YOU”

Keith could hear crashing in the background, and Takashi yelling at his son to give him the phone and go back to sleep. When Takashi got the phone, the first question Keith asked him was, “Why is your four year old awake? Shouldn’t he be asleep by now? That’s some quality parenting right there Kashi”. His brother was obviously Not in the mood for wily banter, and immediately told him to shut the fuck up. “Junior was trying to find the tooth fairy. He believes she lives in the back of the pot cupboard and that’s where he was when the phone rang. Sorry about it, didn’t know you were so offended by my parenting techniques”.

Keith was tempted to carry on the conversation but he had more pressing matters, such as his husband being missing for more than 12 hours. “Kashi, I have a problem. Matt’s been missing all day. I didn’t call earlier, cause-“ “-he’s done it before hasn’t he”, he was cut off by his brother. Either Takashi knew something, or he was really good at making guesses.  
“Yeah, he’s done this before. It happens maybe once or twice a year. He’s always been back before 5pm, he’s never hurt, and he never talks about it. Do you know something?”

Keith heard his brother sigh loudly, before he replied, “Keith, I want you to remember that Matt and I were friends at the Garrison, before he’d properly met you. We were roommates in our second year. I know a lot about Matt that you don’t know about, and he knows a lot about me that you don’t and never need to know. I know all about these days where he goes off the radar, and I do know where he may be, but that’s no guarantee he could be there now. Before you ask me about it, he told me I can’t tell you. I had to pinky promise”. 

Keith felt a little hurt that Matt had told his brother not to tell him about this. He was his husband. They’d been married for almost ten years. What was so important that he couldn’t even tell his husband? He guessed Takashi could tell that from his sudden silence, and swore before saying, “Keith, look I’m sorry, but you know me, I can’t just break a pinky promise like that. And the only reason he hasn’t told you is because it would keep you safe. I only know about it because I was involved in it, before I got married and had kids”. 

Before Keith could say anything to respond, Takashi started yelling at his son. “JUNIOR, WHY ARE YOU STILL UNDER THE SINK. I TOLD YOU TO GO TO BED. SHE WON’T COME IF YOU KEEP DOING THIS. Keith I really hate to do this, but Junior is really playing up tonight. He knows it’s his birthday next week. He keeps saying he sees his mom in the pantry. You know I wouldn’t normally do this right? But he’ll be five, and it’ll be the five year anniversary of ‘Lura’s death. I really have to deal with him, I can’t let him keep going on like this”. Keith couldn’t hold that against him. It was 8.30, Junior really should be in bed. Before he let his brother go though, he made him promise that he’d call him tomorrow, to talk to him about what Matt obviously couldn’t. With that, he let his brother go deal with his sad son.

Keith decided to let the police deal with what they had to tonight. He couldn’t do anything at this time, especially not without a babysitter for his daughter. He reluctantly went to get ready for bed, knowing that he had to get up early to get Leila ready for school tomorrow. He wouldn’t be able to sleep until much later, but he could read a book and pretend his husband was lying next to him. He could pretend to be alright for one night.

After brushing his teeth and hair, he got into his big double bed and got his phone out. Typing up a quick message to his husband, just in case, he hit send. 

It didn’t even take a minute for the message to ding back, with a small add-on.

8.49PM, 3/6/2121:  
MESSAGE NOT SENT


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~“Keith, you piece of chewed up bubble gum, I told you to get into the mint machine”~
> 
> A new character arrives, an old house is left, and many questions are left unanswered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my favourite little Gremlin
> 
> Enjoy

The next morning, Keith woke up his daughter and got her ready for school. He successfully avoided talking about her dad, and whenever she asked about him, he kept trying to change the subject, talking about her uncle and whether he should invite them over for dinner. When he dropped her off at school, she went to get out of the car before turning around and saying “baba, I don’t know what’s happening with you and daddy but I really hope you can sort it because I want him to come home. I miss him. He didn’t tuck me in last night”. 

Keith managed to apologise to his daughter about her dad not being home and made it out onto the highway before he broke down. He missed his husband. 

Deciding that it was dangerous to drive while he was crying like this, he pulled over and pulled out his phone. He had a text from Kashi and a missed call from the officer in charge of the missing persons case. The police were useless and had basically told him that since Matt had a history of this, there wasn’t much they could do besides interview some people. 

With the police deciding against sending out a search party just yet, Keith set his mind on finding where his husband could have possibly gone. Before he could do that though, he had to get off the side of the road and get home to his computer. Drying his eyes, he opened up messenger and sent a text.

7.23AM, 3/7/2121:  
Keith: Hey hubby, I miss you. Leila misses you as well. We want you to come home. Want to tell me where you are so I can come to get you, my love?

But as he expected, it just dinged back almost immediately with a 

7.23AM, 3/7/2121:  
MESSAGE NOT SENT

While this wasn’t the response Keith had wanted from his text, he still wasn’t too surprised. If Matt was in trouble, he wouldn’t have the time to find a phone charger. It still stung a bit, but he would get over it. He had to find his husband.

~

After arriving home, he parked up and noticed a small parcel under the front door mat. Picking it up before he would stand on it, he also noticed his door was unlocked, which was weird, because he was certain he had locked it when he left. Walking in, his heart dropped to the floor. 

The house was a shambles. Drawers had been pulled out and rummaged through, the fish tank was shattered on the floor, with the water soaking the carpet. The fish were long dead, so this must have happened quite quickly after he left to take Leila to school. Keith guessed that meant someone had been watching them and their house. It was worrying to Keith that his husband was involved in something this deep, but he had to focus on getting him and his daughter safe. 

He knew now that his house wasn’t the safest place for this. Before he could start wondering where to go, the doorbell rung three times in quick succession, then there was a pause, and it rang twice again. Utterly confused, he walked up to his front door and peered out the peephole. Seeing who it was made him sigh in relief, and he opened the door as quickly as he could.  
Standing at the door, her jacket on backwards and two odd shoes on, was a short and angry gremlin, who also happened to be his sister-in-law. Before he could say anything, she pushed past him and stared at the mess in his house. 

“It’s even worse than I thought. Usually, he can keep them under control but look at this mess, they’ve obviously been in looking for something. They must be getting more confident”.

Keith snorted and before he could register what she had said, and before he could stop himself, he opened his mouth and all but yelled, “Hi Pidge, nice to see you too would you like a cup of te- wait a minute, do you know about all of this?” It hit him halfway through that she was mumbling as if she knew something, and knowing Pidge, that was never a good thing. But Pidge knew her brother, perhaps a little better than Keith did, on account of actually growing up with the man, and she started hopping over the mess to get to the hallway.

As she was hopping over a mess of hallway cupboard items like sheets and spare cleaning supplies, she yelled out to Keith, “Hey I want you and Leila to come and stay with me for a few days. Bring only what you need the most, such as clothes and maybe a photo or two. You really don’t need anything else, and knowing them, they’ve probably bugged a lot of this stuff. Actually, you know what, I’ll just buy you new clothes to be on the safe side”. 

But Keith was barely listening to her. He had made his way to the table and had found a note. It was printed off in large writing and it said “We know where your husband is. We want what has been hidden from us. If we don’t have it in five days, you won’t see Him Ever again”. 

Pidge was still rambling in the background, and she’d moved on to something about cars and bugs. It completely flew over Keith’s head, but she didn’t have to know that. 

“Katie”.

That was enough to get her to stop talking. Keith had only called her by her proper name once, and that was at his wedding when he promised to be the best in-law that the Holt family would ever have. It shocked Pidge out of her rambling, and when she picked her way through the mess to check on him, he raised a shaking hand and showed her the note.

“Fuck. Shit. God fucking dammit. Those Fucking Assholes. I’m going to fucking murder them if I ever see them”.

Pidge never properly swore, and that was how Keith realised how serious the situation was. Before he could say anything, however, Pidge spoke up again. “Keith, is it possible to pull Leila out of school early? We need to go. Right now”. 

All Keith could do was gulp and nod before Pidge was all but dragging him out of his house and telling him to get in her car. 

It was a little green bug. The perfect car for a person who loved green and was also small. He was just standing there staring at it instead of moving, and maybe that was why she threw his house keys right at his head. Her aim rang true and hit him square in the temple. 

“Keith, you piece of chewed up bubble gum, I told you to get into the mint machine”. There we go. Pidge was back to herself. Although he couldn’t appreciate it, due to the fact that he was still shaken and clasping the note, he did do as she said and picked up his keys and got into her car.

Taking his phone out, he intended to send a text to his brother, before Pidge yelled at him to throw the phone away, with her reasoning being that it could be bugged. “Keith, I’ll get you a burner phone, cause this one could be bugged. Seriously, throw it out the window, right now”. While he was hesitant to do that, he did have to admit that she obviously knew what she was doing so when she wound his window down from her driver seat controls, he just sighed and threw it.

The phone landed in some grass on the side of the road, and as the two were speeding away in Pidges little green car, the screen lit up.

10.34AM, 3/7/2121:  
Unknown Number: Hi honey. I’m in trouble..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So was that ok? 
> 
> I know that people like to use non-binary pronouns for Pidge, and I live for that shit, but this time around I thought I'd stick to the bit of canon when she tells everyone she's a girl.
> 
> Tell me what you think! I'll probably take any advice you give, just please not anything mean or passive aggressive or the kind where you write it thinking you're a better writer than me and This Is Important. You may very well be a better writer than me but honestly, I don't think my brain or heart could handle someone writing as though they are. I'm sensitive Aubrey.
> 
> I look forward to the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~ He didn't register Leila calling for her aunt until Pidge was wrapped around his body in her version of a hug.
> 
> She wasn't crying, but he knew that if she could, she would be.~
> 
> Truths are brought to light after years of deception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys. So. A new chapter. I'm really sorry about the huge gap in between. I got really bad again with my depression and so I couldn't do any writing at all. I'm sitting here now wondering if this chapter is alright to put up and whether it fits with the story still. 
> 
> I was an idiot and didn't write down the storyline so I only have a rough idea of where I was going with this. Maybe it'll come back to me as I write.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy.
> 
> And please don't hesitate to tell me if it seems off, or different at all.

It had been two days since Pidge had stolen Keith and Leila away. She wasn’t letting either of them on any social media sites, but even so, Keith could guess that his colleagues would be messaging him on various sites asking him where he was and if he was ok. He just hoped that none of them had called the police, because that would send a manhunt out after him. 

Takashi had been around yesterday, as he’d found a babysitter to watch his kids. he still hadn’t explained anything to Keith, which annoyed him more than he would’ve liked to say. He did mention a new person in his life however, someone he’d met at work. 

“His name is Adam, he’s about an inch shorter than me, he’s half-Cuban, he speaks Spanish and god he is hot.” 

That was the gist of the conversation with his brother. After they caught up, Pidge explained what had happened at Keith’s place and they gave him the note to read through.

His jaw had clenched and he got up and left the room. When the two followed him, they realised he was going to get in his car to leave. Trying to stop him only resulted in an “I have some things I need to do”, and he drove off.

Keith had to admit, it was a weird day. Today, Pidge was talking on the phone to a large number of people, making phone call after phone call. Keith had asked for something to do, so he wasn’t just sitting around feeling useless, and she had just told him to look after his daughter. 

So currently they were watching Shrek the Musical, a very old musical that his daughter loved. Personally, Keith couldn’t handle it. He absolutely hated it. But it made his daughter happy and that was all that mattered to him at this point, other than his husband still being missing.

At some point during the movie, his daughter had sat between his knees so he could braid her hair for her. He used that as an excuse to drown out the music, but some songs slipped through the cracks. 

Once he was done, she told him to sit on the ground so she could braid his hair. He had to admit that she was getting at braiding. She did his hair into two french braids down either side of his head, then kissed him right in the middle of his head. 

“There you go daddy, I did your hair for you and gave you kisses, do you feel better?”. Before he realised what was happening, he was crying. It was the first time he’d let the tears out since Matt had disappeared, and once he started, he knew that there was no stopping them. He didn't register Leila calling for her aunt until Pidge was wrapped around his body in her version of a hug.

She wasn't crying, but he knew that if she could, she would be.

~

After Keith put Leila to bed, tucked her in, kissed her goodnight and lay with her until she was asleep, he went out to talk to Pidge.

She was waiting for him, with a worryingly large amount of paper set up on the table. She didn’t say anything as he sat down at the table, instead, she was hyper-focused on her phone. He cleared his throat, waiting for his sister-in-law to notice him. It took her about five minutes before she looked up and nonchalantly mentioned that his brother was coming over.

That was a surprise to Keith, mainly due to the fact that he had disappeared so suddenly yesterday, and he had four young kids so he would need to find a babysitter.

But he didn’t say anything and decided to wait until his brother arrived to ask questions. 

Eventually, Takashi showed up, and Keith’s jaw dropped. He was kitted out in what looked to be mercenary gear. He was carrying a duffel bag that was full to the brim, and when he got inside, he dropped it heavily on the floor.

“What the hell is all this”, escaped Keith’s mouth before he could stop himself. Deciding to run with it, he continued. “My husband, your best friend and”, pointing at Pidge, “your brother is missing. Kashi, yesterday you stormed out of here and today you show up in Mercenary gear? What’s in the duffel bag? I have a kid in this house, if it’s weapons, you’re going to die. I’m going to kill you”. Before he could continue on with his rant, Pidge burst out laughing. Keith gave her a death glare until she eventually tapered off. 

“Keith, you know I love you and all, but you’re way out of your depth here, let your brother and I handle this”. And with that, it was like Keith didn’t even exist. The two leapt into a conversation, talking so fast that Keith only caught the odd word or two. Storming into the lounge, he sat down on the couch and turned the tv up as high as he could. 

Unfortunately for him, it was still on Shrek the Musical, but since he was mad, he decided that it was worth listening to it simply so he could annoy the other two. After about two songs, he couldn’t take it any more and turned it off, letting him hear what was going on in the next room. It was silent for a minute or so before he heard his brother call out for him to join them. 

Still mad, Keith stalked into the dining room. The first thing his brother said was, “Keith, are you still having a tantrum? We need to talk?” Unable to control himself, Keith straight up threw the television remote at his brothers head. 

Without even looking at it, Kashi’s hand came up and caught it right before it hit him. That was a surprise to Keith. He always believed his brother was clumsy, always banging around, tripping over his own two feet, even falling down the stairs once because his son had frightened him. He’d never known Takashi to be anything but that.

Speechless, he sat down, finally willing to listen to his brother and his sister-in-law.

They got right to it.

“Keith, as you know the Garrison is run by the military. They have branches everywhere around the country, training kids up to be the perfect fighter pilot or medic, even soldier. They are preparing for a war. I don't have the clearance to know what type of war, but they do believe there is one that will take place in our lifetimes”. Kashi took that moment to get a drink of water, which left Keith in the perfect amount of suspense. 

Clearing his throat, he started again. 

“What most people that get trained don't know, is that there is an elite unit that they train for all of the slightly shady areas in wars. They’re trained in torture, both giving and receiving, hostage situations, hacking, biological warfare, anything slightly illegal. Both Matt and I were on that team”. He took a moment before saying quietly, “Allura was as well”.

“Matt’s speciality was hacking, just like Pidge, but he would dig deeper into government websites, finding every possible shady thing that he could. Unfortunately, that did put him in a difficult position when these high ranking officials found out someone was trying to find dirt on them. Eventually, the Garrison decided Matt had done enough or was getting too old, the specifics are unknown, and he was let go, under an oath never to talk about it”. 

It was at that point that Pidge took over the talking. “Matt obviously didn't like that, he was getting good money from the government to keep quiet, now he only had a threat of being imprisoned. He came to me, since he knew I was also into hacking, and asked if I knew anywhere that would take him. Luckily, I work with a group of technical rebels, and I introduced him to the chick in charge”, at this point, Pidges demeanour changed completely. 

She started to blush and started rambling about the woman in charge of this so-called rebellion operation. 

Takashi just sighed and interrupted her with a “Matt started working for these people and the people who trained him didn't like it. Last I heard, he had stumbled onto something big regarding the person in charge of the Garrison. Pidge and I believe that he might’ve sent someone after Matt”.

It was at that point that Keith’s stomach dropped entirely. When high ranking and rich officials were angered by someone, they simply disappeared. It wasn’t looking good for his husband.  
“Keith”, his brother started softly, “I’m trained in military combat, hand to hand combat, mixed martial arts and sting operations. I promise you I’m going to do everything I can to get Matt back. He’s my friend too”.

“Kashi, the only thing remotely reassuring about that is that you want Matt back too. How long have you hidden these things from me?”, was all that Keith could get out.

Pidge decided it was her turn to butt in and simply stated, “since we were about 14 and joined the Garrison”. 

His stomach twisted. The people he trusted most had kept essential and potentially dangerous parts of their lives a complete secret from him. 

Without saying a word, he got up and went to the room he was sharing with his daughter. Sitting on the end of the bed, he took his burner phone out of his pocket and typed out a message to the number he had memorized. 

As he was expecting, it dinged back seconds later. 

10:31 PM, 3/9/2121:  
MESSAGE NOT SENT

He cried himself to sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, how was that? 
> 
> I remember the slight direction I was intending on going down so hopefully this chapter works.
> 
> Sorry it took me so long to do! 
> 
> As always, you can talk to me through comments or on my tumblr: teenagesandwichengineer
> 
> Enjoy!


End file.
